Recent Posts

Why is it called a Jenny Lind Bed?

Why is it called a Jenny Lind Bed?

Jenny Lind is used to describe cottage-style spindled furniture, like what you often see on baby furniture. This was some of the first mass produced furniture. Foot pedal powered lathes had been used to turn wood for furniture for years, but around 1820 steam and 

Project: Converting a Jenny Lind Baby Changing Table into a Bath Vanity

Project: Converting a Jenny Lind Baby Changing Table into a Bath Vanity

I wanted a bathroom vanity that would coordinate with my Jenny Lind bed. I looked at a lot of spool style dressers and tables and finally found a baby changing table that would give the same cottage style spindled look. I found a baby changing 

Project: Butler’s Pantry with Built-in Wine Fridge

Project: Butler’s Pantry with Built-in Wine Fridge

I found a wine fridge on clearance at Lowes and decided to incorporate it when I remodeled the kitchen. I wanted it to look like a hutch or built-in bar area to blend the kitchen and the living room in my open floor plan. I 

Project: Finding the Deepest Tub for the Money

Project: Finding the Deepest Tub for the Money

What matters to you in a bath tub? I want the water to be deep. I was surprised that the beautiful clawfoot tub I had my heart set on was only 13 1/2” deep. That’s an awful lot of me not under the water. Soaking 

Project: Keyless Door Locks

Project: Keyless Door Locks

There’s an app for that. When I got a keyless lock on the car, I asked my husband why we couldn’t make the house keyless, too. So he set up a Nexia Home system and I love it. We have keypad locks for every door. 

Historic Plans: Popular Bungalow Harris Home No. L-1005

Historic Plans: Popular Bungalow Harris Home No. L-1005

Harris Homes were kit houses available after WWI. You could order your entire house, even the furnishings and have it delivered by train. A new and popular Harris home because of its impressive exterior and size. It is a typical bungalow in the fullest sense 

Historic Plans: Neat Trim Bungalow Harris Home No. L-1009

Historic Plans: Neat Trim Bungalow Harris Home No. L-1009

Harris Homes were kit houses available after WWI. You could order your entire house, even the furnishings and have it delivered by train. This neat, trim bungalow, as pictured here, shows how very attractive a really small home can be. It is a splendid model 

Small House History: Gullah Little House – William Simmons House, Hilton Head Island

Small House History: Gullah Little House – William Simmons House, Hilton Head Island

The Small House Movement isn’t new. Historically, many homes were small. People built what they could, then added on as they could afford to. This small house was built in 1930, with wood lap siding and a corrugated metal roof. The chimney at one end 

Project: Protect Your Cabin from Carpenter Bees and Wood Peckers

Project: Protect Your Cabin from Carpenter Bees and Wood Peckers

Carpenter Bees will seriously damage a log cabin. They drill tunnels and lay eggs. Which is bad enough. But then woodpeckers come to eat the larvae and make huge holes to get at them. Woodpeckers can actually hear bee larvae. The damaged wood attracts other 

Historic Plans: Eleanor Raymond Cottage for a Forty Foot Lot

Historic Plans: Eleanor Raymond Cottage for a Forty Foot Lot

Eleanor Raymond began her career in the 1920s and practiced until the 1980s. She is known for home designs that reflected early American architecture styles. She designed both traditional and cutting edge houses. The Sun House, designed in 1948, was the first successful solar-heated building